A Columbus police officer who lost his job for sharing body camera videos online is officially getting it back — along with full pay and benefits.
NBC4i reported that Officer Spencer Badger, a 14-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, was reinstated after an independent arbitrator ruled in his favor. The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9 announced the decision on November 5, saying the arbitrator overturned his March 2025 firing.
Badger was dismissed earlier this year after city officials found he had downloaded body-worn camera footage without following the city’s public records rules and then uploaded those videos to his personal YouTube channel. The channel, called “Columbus Police Body Camera,” featured clips from real incidents that the department said weren’t cleared for public release.
Public Safety Director Kate McSweeney-Pishotti upheld the firing at the time, describing Badger’s behavior as “critical misconduct.” She said, “Officer Badger admits to violating division policy on multiple occasions. He admits to improperly and repeatedly downloading law enforcement materials to a personal device.”
Badger didn’t deny breaking the rules but argued that his actions didn’t deserve termination. Before his firing, he was placed on administrative duty in February. He remained confident that the punishment wouldn’t stick. “It’s not something that people get fired for and I’m 100 percent positive I will get my job back,” he told NBC4i earlier this year.
According to the report, Badger said he started his YouTube channel during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. He claimed that the city’s political leaders were using that moment of unrest to tighten control over the police department. Posting bodycam footage, he said, was a way to increase transparency and show what officers faced on the streets.
City officials saw it differently, calling the uploads a clear breach of procedure and a threat to privacy and trust. But now, after months of legal back-and-forth, the arbitrator’s decision means Badger will return to the force with full reinstatement and all the pay he missed while off duty.
The ruling comes as many police departments across the country continue to debate how body camera footage should be handled, especially when officers or members of the public share it online. For Badger, though, the outcome is simple — he’s back in uniform, and his controversial YouTube experiment just helped him make headlines again.